1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a light-emitting apparatus, in particular a light-emitting apparatus provided with an organic electroluminescent element.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, light-emitting apparatuses or display apparatuses including a plurality of organic electroluminescent elements have been researched and developed actively. An active matrix type light-emitting apparatus provided with thin film transistors to drive organic electroluminescent elements has been researched broadly because high-definition, high-quality display can be realized. In general, in the active matrix type light-emitting apparatus, a planarizing layer formed from a resin is disposed in such a way as to cover a drive circuit of a thin film transistor and the like on a substrate, and a plurality of organic electroluminescent elements, in which a lower electrode, an organic compound layer including a light-emitting layer, and an upper electrode are laminated, are disposed on the planarizing layer. The plurality of organic electroluminescent elements are partitioned by a partition member formed from a resin, and the lower electrodes of the individual organic electroluminescent elements are electrically connected to the drive circuit through contact portions different from each other. Furthermore, the upper electrode is disposed on the organic compound layer while being shared by the plurality of organic electroluminescent elements and is electrically connected to a drive circuit disposed in an external region through a contact portion disposed in the external region outside a light-emitting region in which the plurality of organic electroluminescent elements are arranged. Moreover, a resin layer is disposed on the drive circuit in the external region in such a way that an occurrence of damage during a production step after formation of the planarizing layer is suppressed. In addition, in the contact portion disposed in the external region, the resin layer and the planarizing layer are configured to be mutually separated and the resin layer and the partition member are configured to be mutually separated in an in-plane direction of the substrate.
There is a problem in that the organic electroluminescent element is sensitive to moisture and oxygen. In order to protect the organic electroluminescent element from the moisture and oxygen, a technology has been known in which after the organic electroluminescent element is formed, a protective layer is formed by using a high-energy film formation method, e.g., a sputtering method or a plasma CVD method. However, if the protective layer is formed by such a high-energy film formation method, the organic compound layer of the organic electroluminescent element may be damaged. In opposition to this problem, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-228570 discloses a configuration, wherein a first protective layer including an organic compound layer of a copper phthalocyanine derivative, an aluminum quinolinol complex, or the like is formed on an upper electrode and a second protective layer, which is formed by a sputtering method or the like and which primarily contains an inorganic material, is disposed on the first protective layer.
In the case where the configuration of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-228570 is adopted in the above-described common active matrix type light-emitting apparatus, the resin layer disposed on the drive circuit in the external region may be configured to come into direct contact with the first protective layer containing an organic compound. That is, the upper electrode is formed to become larger than the contact portion and is formed up to on the resin layer in consideration of the accuracy in formation thereof. Consequently, the resin layer may be configured to come into direct contact with the first protective layer. By the way, the resin absorbs moisture and gases easily, so that moisture and gases tend to remain in the inside thereof. Furthermore, the organic compound also absorbs moisture and gases easily. As a result, a problem occurs in that a path to transfer moisture and gases from the resin layer, which is separated in the contact portion, up to the light-emitting region through the first protective layer containing the organic compound is formed and, thereby, the organic electroluminescent element disposed in the light-emitting region are degraded.
Furthermore, an increase in luminous efficiency is mentioned as another issue of the organic electroluminescent element. Regarding this issue, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-156390, an organic capping layer is formed on an organic electroluminescent element by an evaporation method, and the refractive index or the film thickness thereof is controlled, so as to increase the luminous efficiency of the organic electroluminescent element. However, even the configuration in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-156390 is employed, the above-described problem occurs in the case where a resin layer on a drive circuit disposed in an external region is configured to come into direct contact with the organic capping layer.